Four Kenyan companies are amongst 13 firms that will receive Sh1.3 billion for green energy enterprises in the agricultural sector.

Green energy firms SunCulture — the largest recipient — FuturePump, Ariya Capital Group Limited and KickStart International will benefit from the Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development (PAEGC) programme.

The PAEGC funds startups and other firms supplying clean energy used to increase farm yields or for value addition.

“The 13 projects come from nine countries, and seven are Africa-focused. The funding was divided among them, with Kenya’s SunCulture receiving the largest grant at $2 million (Sh204 million),” said Power Agriculture.

The programme is funded by the United States Agency for International Development, Government of Sweden, the Government of Germany, Duke Energy Corporation and the United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Supplying power to the agricultural sector has been one of the priorities of the Jubilee administration.

The government has in the past said the country plans to add an additional 5,000 megawatts of power by 2017, partly meant to support value addition in the agricultural sector.

Once again, Futurepump and SunCulture have been selected by the London Stock Exchange Group as Companies to Inspire Africa. This pioneering report identifies Africa’s most inspirational and dynamic private, high-growth companies to a global market. Congratulations to them both!

Congratulations to Promethean Power—they're on this year's longlist for the Ashden Awards! Created to highlight some the boldest thinking and biggest breakthroughs in sustainable energy, the Ashden Awards are globally recognized as a mark of excellence in the field of green energy.

Promethean Power Systems' cold storage solution for smallholder dairy farmers is featured in Feed the Future's Year in Review. It's great to see Promethean continuing the groundbreaking work they started as a Powering Agriculture Innovator!

KickStart's MoneyMaker pumps help farmers who are often barely feeding themselves to grow more crops and sell their surplus. What's next? They're planning to open an innovation hub in Kenya to develop new irrigation solutions so it can expand into 16 countries across Africa by 2021.